Secrets of Mental Math: The Mathemagician's Guide to Lightning Calculation and Amazing Math Tricks | 
| Authors: Arthur Benjamin, Michael Shermer
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Category: Book
List Price: $12.95
Buy New: $7.47
You Save: $5.48 (42%)
New (47) Used (12) Collectible (1) from $6.60
Avg. Customer Rating:  14 reviews
Sales Rank: 2222
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.8
ISBN: 0307338401
Dewey Decimal Number: 510
EAN: 9780307338402
ASIN: 0307338401
Publication Date: August 8, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
These simple math secrets and tricks will forever change how you look at the world of numbers.
Secrets of Mental Math will have you thinking like a math genius in no time. Get ready to amaze your friends—and yourself—with incredible calculations you never thought you could master, as renowned “mathemagician” Arthur Benjamin shares his techniques for lightning-quick calculations and amazing number tricks. This book will teach you to do math in your head faster than you ever thought possible, dramatically improve your memory for numbers, and—maybe for the first time—make mathematics fun.
Yes, even you can learn to do seemingly complex equations in your head; all you need to learn are a few tricks. You’ll be able to quickly multiply and divide triple digits, compute with fractions, and determine squares, cubes, and roots without blinking an eye. No matter what your age or current math ability, Secrets of Mental Math will allow you to perform fantastic feats of the mind effortlessly. This is the math they never taught you in school.
Also available as an eBook
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| Customer Reviews: Read 9 more reviews...
Wow! July 8, 2008
This book is great! This book teaches you tricks that really work and really makes you wonder how people came up with them.
One thing I wanted to reccommend - Although this book is for mental math, going through it, I always kept a pencil and paper by my side - some of the concepts/tricks were a little abstract to simply read and absorb the first time around, so they needed a couple of examples (on paper) to solidify the 'trick' for me. After I worked out a couple of problems on pen and paper, I was able to grasp the ability to do them mentally.
One of the best things this book teaches is guesstimation and more importantly, how to forumulate your 'guesses' so you are not so far off from target. I had been doing guesstimation for ages but the methods mentioned in the book were pretty good guidelines for my future guesses.
This book is a must have for anyone that is afraid of numbers because these simple tricks will make difficult math problems a little easier to deal with. The time saving techniques this book is filled with can shave seconds off of your problem solving skills which, come test time (math test, SAT, any test which involves math), you'll be thinking about this book and thanking the author.
Great for any age and skill level May 15, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I recently purchased this book after a stranger in a bookstore suggested it. I'm already impressed. There are quite a few 'speed math' books out there, but this one is easily accessible to everyone and is intended to help with everyday life. I'm fairly advanced in college-level math and I intuitively knew some of the suggestions in the book, but it has helped me brush up, learn new things, and most of all learn how to do it BETTER.
I highly recommend this book to students because it is a tremendous help to know how to perform quick math in your head. Even if you have a calculator, just knowing what to expect for the outcome helps you perform faster and serves as a double-check when you need it. And knowing how to do math quickly is essential on a standardized test like the SAT. Even if you know how to do all the problems correctly, the time limit can cripple you--so do yourself a favor and get this book.
Some of the topics covered in this book include 'basic' to 'advanced' multiplication, mental division, guesstimation, calculating the day of the week, and memorizing numbers through mnemonics.
Very well written book May 9, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This book is very well written. I have always done well in math classes. I never really enjoyed mathematics though. This book makes what seems impossible possible. If you ever wanted to be able to square a number like 72 in your head in seconds this is the book for you.
 One very practical chapter; The Art of 'Guesstimation' !!! March 15, 2008
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
I'm neither interested in squaring three-digit numbers in my head nor in doing mathematical magic. I'm only interested in practical mental math. I did buy this book for chapter 5; *** Good Enough; The Art of 'Guesstimation' ***. I've been doing guesstimations for many years intuitively, not very structured. This fine chapter teaches beginners the art of guesstimation while experts can go back to the basics and hone their skills while they might discover something new ... I did do so with approximating years needed for trippling an investment given interest rates of X% p.a.
Does what it says it will February 25, 2008
4 out of 7 found this review helpful
I have always been good at math, but I still found a lot of the tricks in this book new and handy. Most of these tricks don't require that you are good at math - my husband was even able to do them!
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